Largest Child Custody Case in American History Started Today; Pope Benedict XVI Apologizes to Priests' Sexual Abuse Victims; Debate Fallout

Aired April 17, 2008 - 23:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We have the latest on the polygamist sect fighting for its children. The largest child custody case in American history got underway today and just wrapped up. Chaos in the courtroom is the word we heard a lot today. Inside that courtroom, mothers and lawyers and the state of Texas battling over some 416 children of Warren Jeffs' polygamist sect. David Mattingly is just outside the courthouse as it has just ended for the day. David, what is the latest?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, a very compelling story today from one of the state's lead witnesses, the supervising investigator for Child Protective Services. She was talking about how the state had no idea what they were getting into when they went into that compound two weeks ago.

They originally thought there was only 100 to 150 people there. They were very wrong about that. They were also looking for one 16- year-old pregnant girl who claimed she had been abused. When they went in there, they didn't find that 16-year-old girl. Instead, she said they found many more. That number of many more turned out to be five.

And then the attorneys for the families came back and said, if you've been able to confirm that there were five teenage girls who got pregnant and married here, why not just take them into custody and give the rest of the children back to their parents? That's when the state started explaining its rationalization about this.

First of all, they said these girls were telling them that whenever the prophet tells them to marry, they will marry. They believe you're never too young to marry and that the greatest thing that they can do, the greatest blessing in their lives is to have children.

They said for that reason, because of that belief system that is built into these children, they feel like they cannot send any of them back there, because then every child would grow up and be a potential victim of that abuse, as they're describing it. They cannot send back the young men they say because those men would grow up to participate -- Anderson.

COOPER: So David, essentially what the state is saying no matter what, even if we only have these five 16-year-old girls or girls who got pregnant or married at the age of 16, which is illegal, no matter what happens we can't send any of these kids back ever?

MATTINGLY: They're not saying ever. Typically in state law in the state of Texas, it's always the default thinking that you try and find a way to put the kids back with their parents. That means you have to remove the source of abuse, remove that thinking. How the state might do that nobody has any idea.

We're at the very beginning of these cases. This is just another -- this is just a 14-day hearing on what is one of many steps for these children. But taking them away from their parents is the last option. It's the option that no one really wants to do on a permanent basis.

COOPER: At this point, David, do we have a full understanding of what the state's case is? You talked about the state saying they found five underage girls who -- and was it that they were pregnant or that they had married?

MATTINGLY: These girls were married and they had been pregnant. Some of them had already had their children. That's what they found, these five girls.

And they're telling us exactly what we saw in these court documents a week ago. They were complaining of what they described as a prominent practice in which these young girls were groomed at a young age to accept to be married to older men. And there was one document that was presented that investigators found inside a safe. On that list they say they had the list of the names of ten girls who were 17 and under who were married and had children.

Some of them would have been pregnant at the age of 16 and some of these girls were married to men almost three times their age. So those were the very big pieces of evidence that the state was showing. That big question of why did you take all the kids, it goes back to the practice that the state says is leading to this abuse.

COOPER: And we've got our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin also standing by as well as Carolyn Jessop.

But David, I want to continue with you just for a moment. What was it like, the scene inside the courtroom? You got 416 kids, you have more than 300 attorneys representing those kids. You have attorneys representing the FLDS. We saw some of the artist rendering inside the courtroom. It looks like a pretty small space. How are they trying all these cases at once? How does this work?

MATTINGLY: Well, that's actually a large courtroom by some standards that I've seen. But it is just so full of people. I was lucky enough to have one of the few media passes and I'm sitting in the back of the room on one side you see about 50 members of the FLDS. The women are outnumbering the men about 2-1. They have about 20 attorneys with them.

On the other side, there are scores of attorneys representing each of these 400 children. Now, all of those attorneys have the right to ask questions, they have the right to object. They have the right to approach the bench and talk to the judge. And believe me, a lot of them have been doing that. So we're not moving very quickly.

That might sound very chaotic, but surprisingly the judge is keeping things moving and she seems to be making the rules as she goes along just to deal with this new territory that we're going into. No one has ever had to deal with this kind of situation in the courtroom and she's managing it as she goes.

David Mattingly, stand by outside the courtroom. We're here with our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin as well as, I said, Carolyn Jessop, who's the author of the book "Escape" her memoir about life inside the polygamist sect.

Jeffrey, what do you make of what happened today?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's a start of the government's case, but it sounds like they have a long way to go. All you have so far is an agent testifying about what she saw, what she heard, and it seems fairly vague at this point.

This is not direct evidence of child abuse. This is evidence that she appears to have gotten from other people inside the sect when she was there. This document, which purports to show marriages involving under age people, there will certainly be a big argument whether that's admissible evidence at all. I'm sure the --

COOPER: Why would it not be admissible?

TOOBIN: Because it was be hearsay evidence. It would not be evidence that they actually --

COOPER: But if this is a sect that has a proven track record of following a certain ideology, isn't that proof?

TOOBIN: It's not specific proof. The proof would be is what the law calls a business record. Is it kept in the regular course of business? Then a judge might actually honor and pay attention to what the record shows.

I think most judges will require not just an investigator to testify, but one of the underage women to testify, girls to testify, because that's direct evidence of abuse here. I think there is some distance between the actual crime of underage sex and the testimony that came out in court today.

COOPER: Carolyn Jessop, from your experience, from your years in this compound or in the FLDS community, not this specific compound, can you say categorically there is abuse taking place?

CAROLYN JESSOP, FORMER FLDS MEMBER: There is abuse in Meryl's family. It was rampant, and there was in the community.

COOPER: Meryl is the man who now runs FLDS?

JESSON: Yes. Abuse when I was even a child was a fundamental normal way of life. It was as common as the sun coming up in the morning. COOPER: What sort of abuse?

JESSOP: A lot of violence towards children; children being whipped. I remember on the school bus seeing a girl sitting next to me and her arm had been burnt by her father with a light bulb. I mean, it was just common and it was just, you know, a normal thing and nobody really thought it was abuse, it was considered good discipline. It was a way to control your family.

COOPER: So you're saying the abuse is not just the forced marriage or the so-called spiritual marriages of underage girls who then get pregnant. You say the abuse is actual physical?

JESSOP: It was very physical when I was a child and it was physical for women too. I remember going into the grocery store seeing women with black eyes and bruises from their husbands beating them. If I asked my mother about it, it was just something she didn't like to talk about.

It was just a way of life. It wasn't really seen as abuse. I didn't understand domestic violence until I was 30 -- in my early 30s. I didn't even know it existed.

COOPER: What do you think should happen here? The state kind of saying today look we can't return these kids to this community because there is this pattern here.

JESSOP: Well, you know, Anderson, I think they need to look at mental health. It's well known that cult dynamics and cult mentality and mind control is actually a form of mental illness. I think that they need to do a full psychological mental health test on the mothers to see if they're actually in a place where they could protect their child.

COOPER: Does it surprise you, now we've heard from these mothers the last several nights, for the first time ever they're coming forward. It's obviously a systematic effort on their part to get their side of the story across. It's understandable that they would want to do that.

When you see the mothers giving a tour of the compound, when you see the mothers crying and saying we want our kids back but not answering other questions about how old their kids were when they got married or had babies, what do you think?

JESSOP: Well, it's just appalling to me. I feel like my ex- husband Meryl has put these women as shields up to hide his crimes behind. And I feel like they are desperate about having their children taken from them and they believe if they do what he tells them to do that they'll get them back.

In many ways, I don't see what they're demonstrating that they really believe they're going to lose their children. I think believe that if they are perfectly obedient, God will give them back to them.

And to me, it feels like a pr campaign. They're scripted, and they're evasive. When you ask them questions they have not been scripted on, they don't understand how to answer. That's when I see terror in their eyes.

Because if they answer that in a way where they give out information they should not be giving out, they could be in trouble. They could be in a lot of trouble.

COOPER: David Mattingly, court resumes tomorrow, does it?

MATTINGLY: That's right, it does, Anderson. Following up with that thought, I've been able to talk to some of the FLDS family members there in court, during all the breaks I go up and approach them. They're slowly warming up to me.

They're telling me now that several of them are saying, even the fathers are saying that, yes, 16-year-old girls do get married there, but it does not happen very often. Now their argument is you do not have to take all of the children because a few 16-year-old girls get married to adult men.

So they are saying to me privately, yes, this is going on but it is not prevalent. We believe that our children should come back to us. It's not happening in my house and it's not happening in my family.

TOOBIN: I just think that's a very important point to emphasize. You're talking about hundreds of children here and the law regards removing children from their parents as a very extreme step.

So some of these mothers may well be saying to David and will certainly be saying in the court, wait a second, maybe some 15-year- olds got married but I didn't get married. This is my child. Don't take my child away based on what happened to some kid that I might not even know. So I think the judge has an incredibly difficult assignment.

COOPER: No doubt about it. With 416 kids and more than 300 attorneys, I can't imagine.

Jeff Toobin, thank you. Carolyn Jessop, thank you as well. And David Mattingly as well.

We'll continue to follow this throughout the hour. If there are any developments, we'll bring it to you live. It's not the only story we're dealing with.

Up next, a secret meeting; survivors of sex abuse at the hands of the Catholic Church came face to face today, heart to heart, for the first time ever with the Pope. Did they hear what they expected, what they needed to hear? Do you think the Pope really heard them?

They are speaking out tonight in a CNN exclusive. You will hear from them what they heard from the Pope.

Also, new fallout from last night's Democratic debate. Barack Obama took a beating, but was the real loser the media and was the real winner John McCain? We'll look at the uproar, the questions and the impact ahead in Pennsylvania when "360" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Now a CNN exclusive.

Hope tonight for people who say they haven't had any since being molested by priests. Their hope stolen, a sacred trust betrayed. For decades in this country members of the Roman Catholic clergy abused possibly thousands of children, most of them young boys; that is the betrayal.

The theft of hope for justice and healing came when complaints were unanswered and predators simply shuffled off to another parish to abuse yet again. Since the scandal broke in 2002, the Roman Catholic Church in America has paid out more than $2 Billion in damages.

But until this week, the head of the church, the Pope has never said simply and directly we're sorry. Until this afternoon, no Pope has ever sat down with any of the survivors. Today in Washington, Pope Benedict did just that with a group of survivors from the Boston area.

There were no cameras in the room. But we have three abuse survivors who were, Faith Johnston, Olan Horne and Bernie McDaid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Bernie, this is a meeting you have been waiting years for, that you've been asking for frankly for years. When you came face to face with the Pope, what did you say?

BERNIE MCDAID, CHURCH ABUSE VICTIM: I shook his hand and told him when I was an altar boy, in the sacristy I was abused, sexually abused; a 12-year-old boy, a sacred moment, praying with his heart and soul. This wasn't just sexual abuse, this was spiritual abuse and I wanted him to know that. He nodded his head.

And then I said to him, Holy Father, you have a cancer growing in your flock and you need to do something about that. And I hope you understand me and hear me. And I touched his heart and he nodded again. He looked down at the floor and looked back up and nodded.

COOPER: Do you think he heard you?

MCDAID: He absolutely heard it. I felt -- our eye contact, everything about him, when he entered the room he had an apology right away. The whole tone, the mass was terrific prior. I brought my mother to the mass and when he talked about the sexual abuse at the mass, and I don't go to mass, it totally -- I had tears in my eyes and I didn't expect it.

I was emotional maybe because I had been waiting so long for this. But I really feel there's a hope here that wasn't there before today.

COOPER: A hope in you or a hope that real change is going to happen in the church? Do you believe something has changed with the church?

MCDAID: Yes. The hope -- the hope I need has to come from their change, okay? I need this as well as a lot of people want change for this issue. It's just totally unacceptable child molestation.

COOPER: Bernie, the man who molested you repeatedly, this Reverend Joseph Birmingham, who has now since passed away, I think at the age of 55. It wasn't just you it was multiple people in your neighborhood. When his car drove down the street, I read, the kids -- you and the other kids used to run from him.

MCDAID: Yes. Anderson, he was very manipulative, well liked, given the free green light, if you will, by the parents. Priests in them days were looked at as God.

I'm Irish Catholic, my parents are immigrants. He would come into the neighborhood, take us for rides and the last one out of the car had to fend for himself. I was an altar boy at the end of a mass. He would grab you in the sacristy and then he even came into the classroom, during class and called boys out single handedly into the coat room, which he called the guidance room, at an age of puberty and went up and down you with all kinds of questions.

You wanted to run back into the class but you couldn't. You couldn't go back in that class because then you would have to tell them what was going on. This went on with multiple boys for over two years.

COOPER: And when your father -- when you and your friends finally told I believe it was your father and he went to the church, the church actually just moved this priest to another parish.

And Olin, that's where you come in. You had the unfortunate circumstances of being in the next parish that this priest, Reverend Birmingham, came to, is that correct?

OLAN HORNE, CHURCH ABUSE VICTIM: Absolutely true. This gentleman had lax supervision and he was moved continuously. From his first assignment to Massachusetts, he's moved each and every time due to these accusations, which he agreed to.

There's no doubt about it, Anderson, that it was lax supervision involved and that was absolutely in place. This man had a great career as a pedophile due to that lax supervision.

COOPER: When you came face to face with the Pope, what did you say?

HORNE: You know, this is such a personal moment, but -- and it's so much different for each one of us that went there. But there's a sincerity in what I heard from him. I've met with a lot of bishops. I've had a lot of face time with a lot of bishops and a lot of face time with Cardinal Law. We have a pretty good meter.

When you meet somebody and you know that you don't have to convince them that there's a problem. And they intrinsically understand their role in it, you know it. And we could see that. We could see it in the eyes, we could see it in the sincerity. And there's a phenomenal hope that I came out of the meeting with.

We were just granted unfiltered access to the Pope. It's just unheard of. This is a historical moment. And as far as I am concerned, there has been a long sour note that has been out there resonating for a long time and I really believe we rang a new bell this evening.

I really think that for myself, and I am too in juxtaposition with my religion. But I have held onto hope. And I broke down today myself. I had gone to the mass. I haven't been to mass in 40 something years to celebrate.

I gave him pictures of me as a child, the innocent child and I said I want you to leave these on your desk. When you come to a point or a decision you have to make, don't protect me. Protect the 9-year- old child in that photo.

It was obvious that if you were looking at your grandmother or your grandfather, the sincerity in his eyes. And it was there. And it wasn't just there between the survivors and the Holy Father. It was there between everybody in the room that witnessed it. Anybody that has been in the room and had an opportunity to hear survivors and their stories are just humbled by the experience. The honesty and the frankness, and it was a beginning.

COOPER: Today was a beginning?

HORNE: Absolutely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: We are going to have more of our conversation next. Faith Johnston talks about the moment with Pope Benedict when the words simply would not come. But the tears certainly did.

And later tonight, "Raw Politics." Barack Obama's debate performance and what he is saying about it today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: We are talking tonight about Pope Benedict's historic decision today to sit down with survivors on sex abuse at the hands of the American clergy. He did show in a secret meeting in Washington. Now it was not announce in advance on his schedule, there were no cameras. Present in the room were only abuse survivors.

Bernie McDaid was there. Olan Horne was there. And so was Faith Johnston. I spoke with them a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Faith, your story is more recent. You were repeatedly molested by a priest in -- it went on for several months, did it not?

FAITH JOHNSTON, CHURCH ABUSE VICTIM: Yes. Yeah, I was 14 working in the parish rectory.

COOPER: And the priest is currently in jail?

JOHNSTON: Yes.

COOPER: And when he gets out of jail, he is going to be deported back to Colombia, which is where he is originally from, is that correct?

JOHNSTON: As far as we know, yes, that is what is going to happen.

COOPER: So for you, obviously this has been I mean a long journey to get to this day. And when you stepped in front of the Pontiff, what did you say?

JOHNSTON: I had so much I wanted to say and nothing came out. I just burst into tears. But actions speak louder than words and I think my tears spoke more than what I could have said. And I think that he was -- I think he was moved by that and I think he understood me completely.

COOPER: Bernie, what happens now? What needs to happen now? Because I mean there are a lot of survivors out there who have said, you know, it is great that the Pope has said this repeatedly on this trip to America. He has talked about it some three times. It is great that he met with you today.

But the bishops who, you know, if not aided and abetted, at least turned a blind eye and allowed these priests to move on to other parishes and molest again and again and again. None of them have been punished. What needs to happen now?

MCDAID: That's kind of what I referred to, the cancer in the flock. And it's part of the reason why we can't fully heal, in my opinion. My experience is with these men still in power positions, I just can't accept it. It infuriates me. I want them to step down.

COOPER: Olan do you believe that there will be change on that, that some of these bishops maybe will in some way be punished or criticized or revealed in some way?

HORNE: I think this is a process, and I think within what happened today, we needed the Holy Father to be the Holy Father and I think that we have to understand that. And we have to be very cognizant of the fact that's what this meeting was about today.

But I think that he outlined this yesterday in his speech last night, when he said, and he laid the law down to the bishops and said, this is what I expect of you. We have never heard that strong language from the Vatican before.

And I know one thing, we are moving in the right direction. Is it fast enough? Absolutely not. But I believe the Pope addressed that yesterday, and I think he addressed it clearly publicly and I believe he addressed that privately with us. COOPER: And when you go to bed tonight and you look back at this day, what is going to be foremost in your mind, Olan?

HORNE: That I can look at my children, that I can look at my wife, and my family, and tell them never to give up hope. I broke down today because I never wavered one moment and I never gave up hope. And today it's beginning to bear fruit.

COOPER: A long journey for them. As we said this was the first time a Pope has met face to face with abuse survivors. Digging deeper for us tonight, we're joined now by CNN's senior Vatican analyst, John Allen.

John, the Pope admitting today that in some cases these allegations of abuse were not handled properly the church. Is there any indication as these abuse survivors clearly are hoping for that this is going to lead to somehow to further changes or charges and their criticisms within the church of those who allowed these priests to move from one parish to the next? Is this the end or just the end of the story?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Well, I don't think it's by any means the end of the story. Because I think what you heard from Bernie McDaid there, is as powerful and moving as these three individuals found this experience to be. They don't believe that you can put a period at the end of the sentence quite yet. Because I think they would argue there are some structural adjustments and some accountability measures that have to be built into the system.

But I think they would say that if it is not the end, it is certainly a powerful beginning. I mean I think we need to step back for a moment and realize that when you are talking about an institution with 2,000 years of history, you don't get the chance to use a word like unprecedented very often.

But today's event really was. The first time ever that a Pope has sat down and listened to victims and share their experiences and share their hearts with them. And this is a moment that victims have been praying for, hoping for, organizing for quite sometime. The fact the Pope had not yet done this has been a long standing source of frustration and anger.

COOPER: Let me ask you about that. Why is that? I mean the scandal really broke open in 2002, though it is really had been around before that. So some six years. If this was a major corporation, the CEO would have addressed this and met with these people within the first week or two I'm guessing.

If this was a -- another kind of an institution, why has it taken this long? ALLEN: I guess this is you know chapter 14 in why the Vatican is not General Motors. The practical reality is the Vatican does not follow the play book of sort of corporate crisis management. And that has its positives and its negatives.

But the practical reality here is, I think part of it, to be honest, Anderson, was when the crisis erupted in the United States in 2001 and began to gather steam in 2002, in many ways John Paul II was already in his twilight.

I think there was a sort of deliberate effort among the Pope's senior handlers and his aides to at some extent insulate him from the very painful realities of what was happening on the ground in the United States and elsewhere because they didn't want to add to the burden he was already carrying.

This Pope on the other hand, Benedict XVI, it is important to recall prior to his election to the papacy, was the man in the Vatican responsible for overseeing the internal church disciplinary process when priests were accused of the sexual abuse of minors.

He has actually read virtually every case file about every allegation that surfaced in the United States which means he knows more at the level of detail about this crisis than most American bishops do.

COOPER: But some criticized him back then because of a comment he gave in which he said -- I do not have the exact quote in front of me -- but it's something to the effect of these kinds of things happen everywhere. It should be no surprise that they happen in the priesthood.

Again, I don't want to misquote him. You probably know the quote better than I do. But some have criticized him for not taking this seriously enough. Do you think that's fair?

ALLEN: I think it is to some extent. I think the reality is that the Catholic Church generally and the Vatican specifically, and to some extent this Pope specifically has been on a learning curve about this crisis.

I think to some extent, when this first broke, people like John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, who is now Benedict XVI, men who obviously take their priestly vows very seriously, simply could not believe that priests in such significant numbers could be staining those vows in such an utterly inconceivable way. I think it's taken them some time to grasp the enormity of this. But what Benedict has been trying to tell the American public and the American church this week, is that maybe it's taken him some time but now he gets it.

COOPER: I do have the quote and I just want to read it because I hate misquoting anyone. He said - quote - "the temptations of human beings are present also for the priests, so also we have to accept that." That was Cardinal Ratzinger years ago. John Allen, it's always good to talk to you. Thank you John.

Still to come, the debate fall-out. Barack Obama taking hits and fighting back today. We've got the "Raw Politics."

But first, a "360" follow. Remember the pilot whose gun went off in the cockpit? Those are the bullet holes right there. Wait till you hear what happened today when "360" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Still to come, the debate fallout. Barack Obama firing back. We have the "Raw Politics."

First, Erica Hill joins us with a "360" bulletin -- Erica.

ERICA HILL: Anderson, at least 50 people were killed at a tribal wake in Iraq today. Police say the bomber was targeting mourners gathered to pay respect to two brothers who were supporters of U.S. forces in Iraq. The two men were gunned down earlier this week.

A "360" follow. The Senate wants the Justice Department to see if any laws were broken when Alaska Congressman, Don Young's staff rewrote a portion of the highway spending bill, an earmark after it was voted on. At issue here is money for this Florida interchange, the one you see there, and cash that Young allegedly got from a Florida businessman. His staff though said he was simply fixing a mistake in the original bill.

And the U.S. Airways pilot who says he accidentally fired his gun in flight has been fired. The shot damaged the cockpit. A group that represents pilots who are federally trained and allowed to carry firearms in flight says it plans to fight the airline's decision -- Anderson.

COOPER: I still don't understand how the gun was out and able to be fired.

HILL: It accidentally went off.

COOPER: Still ahead, the fallout from last night's Democratic debate. Barack Obama took most of the hits. Today, Barack Obama is back on the offensive. The best political team on TV weighs in on that.

And here's tonight's "Beat 360." A zebra gazing at a fake zebra during a police training exercise rounding up runaway animals in Tokyo. I didn't know they practiced this sort of thing.

HILL: That is the best part. That's what the picture is for.

COOPER: Although the police have a fake zebra already made just in case the zebra gets on the loose. Here's the caption from our staff winner, Chuck who had a little help from Joey: "Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta go undercover for "Planet in Peril 2."

HILL: I think it's pretty clever.

COOPER: Think you can do better? Go to cnn.com/360, send us your submission and we'll announce the winner at the end of the program.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you're running for the presidency, then you've got to expect it. And you've just got to kind of let it -- you know, you know. That's what you got to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That was Barack Obama today trying to make light of the heat he took in last night's Democratic debate, the same kind of heat previously directed to his rival, Hillary Clinton. Obama was grilled by both moderators. No punches were pulled, no slack was given. So far, no big change in the numbers.

CNN's latest poll of polls shows senator Clinton's average five- point lead in Pennsylvania unchanged since yesterday. 48 percent of likely Democratic voters back her. 43 percent support Obama. 9 percent are unsure. Still with the crucial primary just five days away, Senator Obama woke up on the defensive.

OBAMA: I will tell you, it does not get much more fun than these debates. They are inspiring events. Last night I think we set a new record, because it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people. It took us 45 minutes.

CROWLEY: It was mostly already plowed ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said they get bitter.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Cling to religion.

OBAMA: She said I'm an elitist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

OBAMA: He loves this country.

CROWLEY: His controversial pastor, the bitter voters remark, the relationship with the '60s radical, and why he doesn't always wear an American flag pin. He seemed to be irritated to go over it. Hillary Clinton did not ask the questions but did throw salt on the wounds. CLINTON: It is clear that as leaders, we have a choice who we associate with, and who we apparently give some kind of seal of approval to.

OBAMA: I have to say, Senator Clinton, you know, looked in her element. You know, she was taking every opportunity to get a dig in there.

CROWLEY: The debate bolsters the heart of his campaign and he pressed it at every turn. Answering the questions but also arguing it's the kind of small Washington politics that get in the way of solving big problems.

OBAMA: I do think it's important to recognize that it's not helping that person who is sitting at the kitchen table, who is trying to figure out how to pay the bills at the end of the month.

CROWLEY: Mother and daughter in tow, Clinton campaigned through Philly, urging her overwhelmingly female audience to help her get out the vote.

CLINTON: Just knock on the door and say, you know, she's really nice. Or you can say another way she's not as bad as you think.

CROWLEY: She didn't say much about the debate, where she ceded territory only once, the electability argument.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think Senator Obama can do that, can he win?

CLINTON: Yes, yes, yes.

CROWLEY: It may prove a significant concession. The cornerstone of Clinton's campaign argument to superdelegates who made decide this nomination is that Obama is not electable.

As usual, they agreed on issues, both hardened on Iraq, promising withdrawal, no matter what. And they offered firm commitments not to hike taxes on the middle class. They were also in sync when they were asked whether they would each promise to put the other on the ticket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, I put the question to both of you, why not? Don't all speak at once.

CROWLEY: It is tense now in this long campaign. There is no love lost here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: No love indeed. Candy will join us next along with CNN senior political analyst David Gergen and Gloria Borger standing by. More "Raw Politics" right after the break.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CLINTON: I have to say that, you know, for Pastor Wright to have given his first sermon after 9/11 and to have blamed the United States for the attack, which happened in my city of New York, would have been just intolerable for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Senator Hillary Clinton taking a shot at her rival Barack Obama during last night's debate. Reverend Jeremiah Wright and his controversial remarks were just the beginning.

CNN's Candy Crowley reported before the break, Senator Obama was turned into kind of a pinata at times. Digging deeper, Candy joins me again along with CNN senior political analyst, David Gergen and Gloria Borger.

Candy, Obama says last night's debate was more of the typical Washington politics and the voters are tired of it. But even if he's right, the fact that he seemed to stumble during the debate, isn't that just ammunition for his opponents who will say, well, you know what? General elections are full of typical Washington politic. And if you can't overcome it, then you shouldn't be the nominee?

CROWLEY: That's the Clinton argument, Anderson. It's -- listen, I'm talking to the superdelegates, nobody knows a lot of things about Barack Obama's past. Imagine what might come out. You know my past. I've been in the public life for 16 years. You know who I am. They've been through all my baggage. So that's clearly her argument.

His argument obviously is you can't get anything done playing the same old Washington politics. So in essence, both of them came out of that debate furthering their arguments.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They've been beating up on her for 15 months. I didn't hear her whining when he said she was untruthful in Iowa or called her the senator from Punjab. And you know they said some pretty rough things about me too. But, you know, this is a contact sport. If you don't want to play, keep your uniform off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I've heard James Carville also talk about them kind of whining. What do you think of the response?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh, my goodness. Well, listen, I did not think she was -- he was whining today. I did think that he was on the defensive last night. I thought he was flat last night. But I think he's also showing us that there it -- it is possible to be on the defensive without being defensive. I thought he handled the answers fairly well. And the most important thing, Anderson, is I think there are a whole lot of people who do not like this kind of politics, and do not like all the jabs, and I think that's working in his favor.

And the polls so far have shown his support steady. If anything, he continues to gain just a little bit. She's still favored in Pennsylvania but he's doing pretty darn well. For a rookie out there -- we've heard her whining before.

If you want to talk about whining, we've heard both sides of this say, you know, what have we heard about all the complaints about the press and how they've been anti-Senator Clinton. We've heard a lot of this before.

I just think most people just want to move on and talk about the issues. I do think one thing the press showed us last night, it is not uniformly pro-Clinton. That debate was anything but. I mean it is not uniformly pro-Obama. That debate was anything but pro Obama.

The questions were clearly aimed to test him. He needs to be tested. I think that's fair game. But I think a lot of people felt disappointed by the debate.

COOPER: Gloria, the fact that Hillary Clinton said last night yes, yes, yes, to the question about whether or not he is electable. That it seems to be at odds about whether it's her or Harold Ickes or her other people telling the superdelegates. Are they still saying that stuff to the superdelegates?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think they are privately. And some of her staff had a conference call today and they said, yes, he can win doesn't mean that yes, he will win. So we're parsing our words there a little bit because clearly they wanted to walk that back.

Look, Anderson, I think the large problem here really is for these two candidates right now is that they don't disagree very much on the large issues. They're down to arguing about who is more against these trade deals. Whose health care plan will insure 99 percent versus 100 percent? So when you get down to the end of this long road we've been on, what are they doing? They're bickering now about these questions of character.

COOPER: I want to play something that Howard Dean said on CNN earlier about the superdelegates. Basically sending them a message they need to make up their minds. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD DEAN, CHAIRMAN, DNC: There's about 65 roughly percent of the superdelegates that voted. There's about 320 some odd left to vote. I need them to say who they're for starting now. They really do need to do that.

We cannot give up two or three months of active campaigning and healing time. We've got to know who our nominee is and there's no reason not to know after the last primary on June 3rd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: That's what he needs. Is that what he's going to get, David Gergen? Is this going to be over by June 3rd.

GERGEN: I think it's wrong to call for the superdelegates to decide right now as he did. Hillary Clinton has every right to continue this fight right through the end of the primaries and for the superdelegates to hold their fire until that's over.

The big question looming over the campaign now is, can Barack Obama hold his support or is the bottom going to drop out? So far, after all these controversies, the evidence is the bottom is not going to drop out and he's going to hold and he's very likely to win.

But I think until the primaries are over, she's got every right to fight on. When the primaries are over, I think it changes completely and then the Howard Dean argument becomes it sees to me, highly compelling if the Democrats hope to win this.

We've had two fights -- two campaigns, I was reminded by one of the superdelegates in K-Mart not long ago. We've had two campaigns that have gone to the convention in recent years, 1976 for the Democrats -- or for the Republicans, 1980 for the Democrats. Both times the party went on to lose in the fall.

COOPER: We're going to have to leave it there. I'm sorry, We're short of time because there's actually a press conference on the other side of this break. David Gergen, Candy Crowley, Gloria Borger, thank you very much.

Up next, we have a new development in the polygamy showdown. A news conference just wrapping up at the courthouse. The FLDS attorneys speaking out. We have details coming up.

And just when you thought they couldn't go any higher, there's new news about gas prices. Erica Hill has the details in a moment.

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COOPER: News outside a courthouse in Texas where a judge will soon determine who gets custody of the 416 children who were taken from the FLDS compound earlier this month. Soon, we're not sure. Just moments ago, a news conference wrapped up and FLDS attorney Rod Parker who we spoke to last night, talking to reporters. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD PARKER, FLDS ATTORNEY: Well, it's interesting that I think what's happening in there is that the CPS is trying to put the church on trial rather than talk about these individual cases. In reality, what it's turning into is the CPS is on trial for its high-handed and precipitate tactics in removing these children.

At one point, the CPS supervisor testified that they removed the children because they were afraid. When asked why they were afraid, it was because there were tanks and armed men in riot gear on the property. So they created the very situation that caused the fear that caused them to remove the children.

They've also, I think, in large part it's become very clear that there are a very, very small number of people in that arena over there who actually qualify as being even remotely within the possibility of the burden of proof that the state has to meet in this case. So we're feeling like things are going well.

I still feel that the format of this hearing is very difficult, having this many lawyers and this many parties all trying to have their cases handled at once. It's a very difficult thing.

I know the court is doing the best it can, but it's -- I think many of the -- many of the families feel like their particularized individual interests aren't being addressed just because of the format of the hearing. That's something we've been concerned about all along.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The hearing of course resumes tomorrow. And Erica what we were hearing from David Mattingly of course earlier tonight, at the top of the news when this was breaking news and this was just in. He was talking about how for the state -- this is not just about the five or the handful of young underage girls who they have found thus far who may be pregnant or got married underage. They say there's this systematic abuse and therefore they can't return all these kids back to the FLDS compound.

HILL: Which I think was so interesting to everybody to hear those words, we feel these kids cannot go back. When you're talking about more than 400 children --

COOPER: Which is why I think Rod Parker is talking about the state putting the church on trial. He says that's what the state is trying to do. They are actually putting the church on trial. He says, actually now the state is on trial, you know the words -- he's the defense attorney for the FLDS. So you would expect him to say such. But we'll see what happens tomorrow when the court resumes.

HILL: And definitely, it gets more interesting by the day.

I do want to get you caught up too, on a couple of the headlines we're following for you.

Appearing with Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Bush today turning up the heat on Iran over its nuclear program. The prime minister promised to step up sanctions on Tehran whenever possible. Mr. Brown also met with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama today.

And a new day, a new record. The nationwide average for a gallon of unleaded regular now stands at $3.41. It's on track to actually hit $4 by summer time. That's according to Triple A. Also on the rise, Google's profits are even more than expected. Excluding one-time charges, Google says it earned $1.54 Billion in the first quarter, that's $4.84 a share. Again that beats expectations -- Anderson.

COOPER. All right, Erica. Time now for the "Beat 360." tonight, a special to tell the truth edition. You decide which one's real and which is the impostor. The picture comes from Tokyo. A zebra gazing at a fake zebra during a police training exercise for rounding up runaway animals. I'm amazed at their preparations.

Our staff winner, Chuck, came out with this caption with help from Joey: "Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta go undercover for Planet in Peril 2."

HILL: I'd never know that was a fake zebra peeking up undercover.

COOPER: This may be the last night you'll hear the "wah-wah- wah."

HILL: Apparently it's on the way out.

COOPER: Yes.

HILL: The people have spoken.

COOPER: Sure, or at least one person has.

Our viewer winner tonight comes from Bill on Manhattan's Upper West Side, no less with a shout out to Kathleen also from the hood. "Exhibit A in the debate over whether humans should mate with zebras."

I like that one.

HILL: I'm saying no.

COOPER: As always, you can play along at cnn.com/360.

For our international viewers, "CNN Today" is next. Here in America, "LARRY KING" is coming up.